Principles

Overview

The CMA Standards Council's 'Nine Principles of Ministry Accountability', the 54 standards that fall under those principles, and the four supporting policies, represent the essential requirements necessary for an organisation to become accredited by the Standards Council.

These principles and standards are about organisational accountability, not organisational effectiveness, which is a far larger topic. There are many things an organisation can do, in addition to these principles, that will enhance both accountability and effectiveness, but we consider these to be an excellent starting point, and the absolute minimum for a truly accountable ministry.

the 9 principles

PRINCIPLE 1: GOD FIRST

The organisation must declare its Christian ethos and confirm that it acts in accordance with that ethos.

standards

1.1 The organisation must publicly state its
Christian ethos and purposes, for example in its constitution, vision/mission
statements or website.

1.2 The organisation must have a written statement
of faith, approved annually and unanimously by its governing body, which is
consistent with, and is not in conflict with, the Nicene Creed or otherwise
satisfactorily demonstrate its commitment.

PRINCIPLE 2: CHARITABLE STATUS

The organisation must be a registered, legitimate
and active Australian Charity.

standards

2.1 The
organisation must be registered in good standing on the ACNC register.

2.2 The
organisation must have been operating for at least one year and have at least
one annual information statement visible on the ACNC register.

2.3 The
members of the organisation’s governing body must meet the ACNC’s suitability
requirements.

The organisation
must be governed by a properly structured body which acts with care, diligence
and independence.

standards

3.1 The
constitution or equivalent must clearly state who bears the ultimate
responsibility for the organisation.

3.2 The governing
body must have at least five properly appointed members.

3.3 The majority
of the governing body must be independent (see the CMA Standards Council's Supporting Policy on Governing Body
Independence).

3.4 The governing
body must meet at least 4 times per year, at times reasonably spaced apart.

3.5 A quorum
must be at least half the governing body, with a majority of those attending
being independent.

3.6 The governing
body must keep written minutes of all meetings, documenting all decisions made.

3.7 Financial
dealings between the organisation and any member of the governing body must be
governed by the CMA Standards Council's Supporting
Policy on Governing Body Remuneration.

3.8 The chair
and vice-chair (if any) must be non-executives.

3.9 The governing body must have a policy which addresses the length of service of its members and which balances the benefits of knowledge and experience of the organisation against the danger of losing the member’s independence from management, their effectiveness and enthusiasm.

3.10 If the
organisation has subsidiaries or related entities with which it is grouped on
the ACNC register or equivalent, this Standard 3 should also apply to such
subsidiaries and related entities.

3.11 If the governing body has any standing or ad hoc committees (for example, an audit committee), it must document the establishment of each committee, including its membership, responsibilities and powers.

PRINCIPLE 4: RESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP

Leadership is critical and sets the culture of the
entire organisation. The members of the organisation’s governing body must be
responsible, competent and comply with their legal obligations.

standards

4.1 Each member
of the governing body must at all times meet the ACNC's published criteria for responsible
persons (whether regulated by the ACNC or not) and must meet their legal duties,
including the duties set out in ACNC Governance Standard 5.

4.2 The governing
body must have a selection process for recruiting appropriately skilled and
diverse members.

4.3 The
organisation must have an induction process which informs and educates members of
its governing body about their duties and responsibilities.

4.4 The
organisation must have a governing body development plan, which outlines how that
body intends to continuously review and improve its effectiveness.

4.5 The
governing body must take steps to identify any conflict of interest and deal
with it in a manner consistent with the CMA Standards Council's Policy For
Excellence In Handling Conflicts of Interest.

PRINCIPLE 5: CHARITABLE PURPOSE

The
governing body must ensure that the organisation carries out the purpose for
which it exists.

standards

5.1 The
organisation's constitution or equivalent must clearly identify the charitable
purpose of the organisation.

5.2 The
organisation's constitution or equivalent must contain the customary non-profit
clauses which meet the non-distribution constraints required for not-for-profit
entities.

5.3 The
charitable purpose for which the organisation exists must be clearly
articulated in websites, brochures, reports and other relevant and appropriate
publications.

5.4 The
organisation must ensure that an overall plan exists which describes how
current and future activities align with the organisation's charitable purpose.

5.5 The
governing body must conduct an annual review of the organisation's overall
finances and activities, to satisfy itself that they are being applied in the
pursuit of the organisation's charitable purpose.

5.6 The governing body must, either itself or by way of an approved
process, ensure that each significant program or activity is evaluated at
intervals of no greater than every three years, to verify that it is
progressing the organisation's charitable purpose, and represents an effective
use of organisational resources.

PRINCIPLE 6: FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT

The
governing body must undertake proper financial oversight of the organisation.

standards

6.2 The governing
body must ensure that the reports provided to it contain sufficient detail, in
appropriate formats, to allow it to determine the financial health and
performance of the organisation.

6.3
Organisations with an annual revenue of $1 million or more must be audited
annually by an appropriately qualified, independent auditor.

6.4
Organisations with an annual revenue of less than $1 million must be reviewed (within
the meaning of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Act) or audited annually
by an appropriately qualified, independent auditor.

6.5 Each
year the governing body must review and approve the final financial statements
of the organisation, and must review any audit report and / or management letter
provided by the auditor.

6.6 Each
year the governing body must review the appropriateness of its policies and
procedures relating to internal controls, segregation of duties and expenditure
approval policies, taking into consideration the size and capacity of the
organisation.

6.7 At
intervals of no greater than every five years, the governing body must review
the quality of the audit or review.

6.8 The
organisation must not make a loan to staff, volunteers or members of its
governing body unless the loan is documented and approved by the governing body,
and is either on arm’s length terms providing a commercial return, is clearly
part of an approved remuneration package, or is otherwise within the charitable
purposes of the organisation.

6.9 If the governing body delegates some of its responsibilities to an audit committee, all members of that committee must be independent and non-executive (see the CMA Standard Council's Supporting Policy on Governing Body Independence), the audit committee must include members of the governing body, and the governing body members must not be able to be outvoted.

PRINCIPLE 7: RISK MANAGEMENT

The organisation must take steps to identify and
monitor risks to which it is exposed.

standards

7.1 The
organisation must develop, implement and monitor a risk management plan that
identifies the significant risks to which the organisation is exposed,
classifies them according to severity and likelihood, and documents appropriate
management strategies and insurance programs. The plan must be reviewed at
least annually.

7.2 The organisation must take reasonable steps to ensure that it meets
its legal obligations and in particular must not act in a way which could be
dealt with as an indictable offence or could be punishable by a civil or
criminal penalty of over $10,000.

PRINCIPLE 8: TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

The
organisation must be transparent and accountable to its stakeholders.

standards

8.1 The
organisation must hold an annual meeting to inform members of its activities,
performance and achievements. There must be a reasonable opportunity at the
meeting for members to ask questions or seek clarity about matters of
legitimate interest.

8.2 The
organisation must produce an annual report which is available to members,
donors, staff, volunteers and members of the public. The report must contain sufficient
detail to enable readers to gain a reasonable overview of the activities,
performance and achievements of the organisation.

8.3 The
organisation must supply at any time a copy of its most recent audited/reviewed
financial statements to any legitimate stakeholder who submits a written
request. The organisation may charge a reasonable fee reflecting the costs and
effort of supplying the statements.

8.4 The
organisation must supply a summary report on the financial and operational
results of any significant specific purpose appeal, in response to a written
request from a donor to or volunteer of that project. The organisation may
charge a reasonable fee reflecting the costs and effort of supplying the report.

8.5 The
organisation must ensure that postal, email and telephone contact details are
kept up-to-date on websites, reports and publications.

8.6 The
organisation must ensure that a suitable mechanism exists for members, donors,
volunteers and other interested parties to receive communications about the
organisation's activities and progress in between annual meetings.

8.7 The
organisation must maintain and publicise a mechanism for members, donors, staff,
volunteers and other interested parties to submit feedback or register a
complaint with the organisation, and respond in a timely and appropriate manner.

8.8 The governing body must set the remuneration package of its top leader and address related-party transactions in a manner that demonstrates integrity and propriety (see for example the CMA Standards Council's Policy for Excellence in Remuneration-Setting).

8.9 All
information supplied for publication in the Standards Council Online Directory
must be correct and up-to-date at all times.

PRINCIPLE 9: HONEST COMMUNICATION

All gift appeals and stewardship activities of the
organisation must be carried out in a truthful and ethical manner.

standards

9.1 In
securing gifts, all representations of fact, descriptions of the financial
condition of the organisation, or narratives about events must be current,
complete, and accurate. References to past activities or events must be
appropriately dated. There must be no material omissions or exaggerations of
fact, use of misleading or disrespectful photographs, or any other
communication which would tend to create a false impression or misunderstanding
or unrealistic expectations of what a gift will actually accomplish.

9.2 The
organisation must honour statements made about how it will use gifts that it
seeks. If a donor gives any special instructions with the gift, and the
organisation accepts the gift, it must honour the instructions.

9.3 The
organisation must give donors appropriate and timely receipts for all tax
deductible gifts and otherwise on request.

9.4 Organisations
must ensure that their representatives do not take improper advantage of any
fiduciary relationship of trust the representative may have with the potential
donor. An organisation must not knowingly accept a gift if it appears to the
organisation that it is a major financial commitment by the donor and the donor
has not considered his or her financial capacity to make the gift.

9.5 Every
item of communication used for solicitation of gifts must clearly identify the
organisation's name, address, phone number, ABN (if applicable), and the
purpose for which support is being solicited.

9.6 The
organisation must have a plan for how funds will be applied in the case of an
appeal for a particular purpose being oversubscribed and (if appropriate)
undersubscribed, and will communicate its intent at the commencement of the
appeal or as soon as practicable after the risk of oversubscription became
apparent.

A number of well-regarded Christian ministries offered (or were approached) to be part of a pilot program, which was successfully concluded after the launch in November 2017. This pilot program enabled us to test the systems with live data, examine the Standards in a live working environment, and iron out any wrinkles in a collaborative test environment. On 16 November 2017 the CMA Standards Council was officially launched at a major event in Melbourne and is now "open for business" to accept applications for accreditation from all worthy Christian organisations. Apply online here.

Contact us to request an information pack, make an inquiry, or get connected.